Communication

Why You Need to Reaffirm Customer Decisions

There is always a bit of uncertainty when a customer decides to make a purchase. By immediately giving positive feedback to the customer that they made the right decision, you can remove that doubt.

I went to lunch last week at la Madeleine, a French bakery and restaurant. I wasn’t quite sure what to order since everything was new to me. I selected a sandwich and when I placed my order I was hoping that I had made a good decision.

The employee taking my order said with excitement: “that’s a great choice, it’s what I eat.”

Instantly I was pacified and confident I had made a good decision. My lunch turned out to be a good one.

Why is it so important to reassure the customer at the point of sale?

Your customers have mental distractions and concerns weighing them down and preventing them from fully enjoying their purchase. If these thoughts and fears are not neutralized, they are foreshadowing what will really happen.

At the point of sale, you can reassure, comfort, and instill confidence in the customer that their decision was the right one.

Armed with this confidence, your customers are more likely to be happy with their purchase. They’ll be less likely to have buyer’s remorse and return your product the next day.

The bonus you get for reaffirming a customer’s decision is that they leave with a positive mental image of their encounter. This will lead them to return later to give you even more business.

4 Comments »

  1. James Taylor

    August 31, 2007

    Great post. Made me think about this in terms of automated systems so I posted about it http://www.edmblog.com/weblog/2007/08/is-your-system-.html
    JT

    Author of “Smart (Enough) Systems”

  2. Mike Craig

    September 3, 2007

    So, the academic term would be “reducing cognitive dissonance”

    Great post.

  3. Joe Rawlinson

    September 3, 2007

    James: Automated systems are a great way to follow-up with customers. Like your post mentions, you can find the words and phrases that match your customer’s situation and have them show up every time a transaction occurs.

    Mike: Cognitive dissonance is an interesting theory. People don’t like to admit they made a bad decision so you, the vendor, can help reassure them that their decision was a good one!

  4. Bruce Bailey

    September 12, 2007

    I had to look up the meaning of concept in Mike Craig’s post (you academics!), but now that I know what he’s talking about, I agree with him.

    :)

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